New York Regulations Aim To End Conversion Therapy

On Feb. 6, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a series of executive actions to prevent the practice of LGBT conversion therapy in the state:

The New York State Department of Financial Services is issuing regulations barring New York insurers from providing coverage for conversion therapy given to an individual under the age of 18. Additionally, the New York State Department of Health is prohibiting coverage of conversion therapy under New York’s Medicaid program and the New York State Office of Mental Health is issuing regulations prohibiting facilities under its jurisdiction from providing conversion therapy treatment to minors.

Christian News reports on the governor's actions.

Reparative Therapy Practitioners, Enjoined In New Jersey, Move Work To Israel

As previously reported, last December a New Jersey state court issued a permanent injunction under the state's Consumer Fraud Act against JONAH (Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing), prohibiting it from offering gay conversion therapy in the future.  Yesterday, however, AP reported that therapists who had been connected to JONAH have moved their work to Israel. According to AP:

Israel’s Health Ministry advises against so-called “gay conversion” or “reparative” therapy, calling it scientifically dubious and potentially dangerous, but no law limits it. In Israel, practitioners say their services are in demand, mostly by Orthodox Jewish men trying to reduce their same-sex attractions so they can marry women and raise a traditional family according to their conservative religious values.

Clients also include Jewish teenagers from the U.S. and other countries who attend post-high school study programs at Orthodox seminaries in Israel....

Proponents in Israel say therapy does not “convert” clients, but boosts self-esteem and masculinity, which they say can reduce homosexuality. In Israel, therapists say there is greater acceptance of their work than in the U.S.

Suit Against Jewish Conversion Therapy Group Ends With Permanent Injunction and Settlement Instead of Appeal

As previously reported, in June a New Jersey state trial court jury awarded treble damages of $72,400 to a total of five plaintiffs who sued JONAH (Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing), its founder and a counselor under the state's consumer fraud law. JONAH provided "conversion therapy" that it falsely claimed could change an individual from gay to straight.  Instead of appealing the decision, defendants entered a confidential settlement agreement (Stipulation) under which defendants are to pay an undisclosed amount of damages and attorneys' fees of $3500.  In addition the parties agreed to the award of a permanent injunction requiring JONAH to cease operations and liquidate.  The Court issued a consent Order on Dec. 18 (full text) implementing this agreement, including permanently enjoining defendants from offering any kind of conversion therapy in the future. CBS News reports on these developments and points out that New Jersey's 2013 law banning licensed therapists from offering sexual orientation change therapy for minors was not involved in the case because the defendants were not licensed therapists. An attorney who represented JONAH said:

It is sad that so many are celebrating the government's power to stop willing clients from working with willing counselors to lead their lives on Biblical principles.

Attorneys for plaintiffs responded, however:

The practice of conversion therapy, at base, constitutes fraud. It is premised on the lie that homosexuality is a disease or disorder. This case proved it to be a lie.

Southern Poverty Law Center's case page has links to all the pleadings and court orders in the case.

Cincinnati Enacts Conversion Therapy Ban

Last Wednesday, Cincinnati, Ohio followed four states and the District of Columbia in passing a ban on providing conversion therapy aimed at changing the sexual orientation of young people who are gay or lesbian. Cincinnati Enquirer reports that the new law imposes a $200 per day fine on violators. City Council passed the ordinance by a vote of 7-2 in the wake of the suicide death a year ago of a transgender teen who cited the conversion therapy she had been subjected to in her suicide note. During the comment period on the proposed ordinance, 21 people spoke against the bill on religious and free speech grounds.  One Baptist clergyman said: "This Council will create another another type of bondage for something people themselves have a right to seek liberty from."

Remaining Challenges To California's Ban On Reparative Therapy For Minors Dismissed

In 2013, the 9th Circuit rejected a facial free speech challenge by mental health providers to California's ban on engaging in sexual orientation change efforts with patients under 18. It also rejected a parental rights claim.  (See prior posting.) Now in Pickup v. Brown, (ED CA, Sept. 15, 2015), a California federal district court dismissed remaining challenges to the statute.  Finding the law is neutral and generally applicable, the court dismissed a facial Free Exercise challenge. The court also rejected, with leave to file an amended complaint, plaintiffs' "as applied" free speech challenge.

Illinois Becomes 4th State To Ban Gay Conversion Therapy For Minors

As reported by the Huffington Post, yesterday Illinois became the fourth state to ban gay conversion therapy for minors.  Governor Bruce Rauner signed HB 217 (full text), the Youth Mental Health Protection Act which prohibits any mental health provider from engaging in sexual orientation change efforts with a person under the age of 18. The new law also broadly prohibits misleading advertising of conversion therapy:

No person or entity may, in the conduct of any trade or commerce, use or employ any deception, fraud, false pretense, false promise, misrepresentation, or the concealment, suppression, or omission of any material fact in advertising or otherwise offering conversion therapy services in a manner that represents homosexuality as a mental disease, disorder, or illness, with intent that others rely upon the concealment, suppression, or omission of such material fact. A violation of this Section constitutes an unlawful practice under the Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act.

The new law, which becomes effective Jan. 1, 2016, includes extensive legislative findings supporting the therapy ban.

Supreme Court Is Asked To Review New Jersey Reparative Therapy Ban

Yesterday a petition for certiorari (full text) was filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in Doe v. Governor of New Jersey.  In the case, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals  rejected a constitutional challenge to a New Jersey statute that bans "sexual orientation change efforts" counseling for minors. Liberty Counsel issued a press release announcing the filing of the petition for review.

Jury Awards Consumer Fraud Damages In Conversion Therapy Lawsuit

The Southern Poverty Law Center reported that a New Jersey state trial court jury yesterday awarded treble damages of $72,400 to a total of five plaintiffs who sued a provider of "conversion therapy" under the state's consumer fraud law. The award against JONAH (Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing), its founder and a counselor, compensated plaintiffs for fees paid and for mental health counseling needed by one of the plaintiffs. The jury found that claims JONAH could change clients from gay to straight were fraudulent and unconscionable. In coming weeks the judge will also decide whether to cancel JONAH's business license. (See prior related posting.) SPLC's case docket furnishes links to all the pleadings and orders in the case as it proceeded through the court since it was filed in 2012.

Cert Denied In Challenge To New Jersey's Reparative Therapy Ban

Yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court denied review in King v. Christie, (Docket No. 14-672, cert. denied 5/4/2015) (Order List).  In the case, the 3rd Circuit upheld against 1st Amendment challenges New Jersey's statute barring professional counselors from engaging in sexual orientation change therapy with minors. (See prior posting.)  The Hill reports on the Supreme Court's denial of certiorari.

3rd Circuit Again Rejects Challenge To New Jersey Reparative Therapy Ban

The U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday, for a second time, rejected a constitutional challenge to a New Jersey statute (A3371) that prohibits providing "sexual orientation change efforts" counseling to minors.  Last September, in King v. Governor of New Jersey, the 3rd Circuit rejected free speech and free exercise challenges to the law brought by counselors offering the therapy. (See prior posting.) Now in Doe v. Governor of the State of New Jersey, (3d Cir., April 13, 2015), the 3rd Circuit also rejected challenges brought by a minor and his parents who claim the law abridges their free exercise rights, their right to receive information and their parental rights to control the upbringing of their children. The Court relied on its King opinion in dealing with the free exorcise challenge.  There the Court had found the law to be neutral and of general applicability. It held that the right to receive information is not broader than the right to disseminate it.  Finally, rejecting the parents' due process argument, the Court held that parental rights do not include the right to choose a specific medical or mental health treatment that the state has reasonably concluded is harmful. Reuters reports on the decision.

White House Supports National Ban on LGBTQ Conversion Therapy

The White House has announced that the Administration supports a national ban on sexual orientation conversion therapy for minors.  In an Official White House Response to a petition on We the People website, senior advisor Valerie Jarrett wrote in part:

When assessing the validity of conversion therapy, or other practices that seek to change an individual’s gender identity or sexual orientation, it is as imperative to seek guidance from certified medical experts. The overwhelming scientific evidence demonstrates that conversion therapy, especially when it is practiced on young people, is neither medically nor ethically appropriate and can cause substantial harm.

As part of our dedication to protecting America’s youth, this Administration supports efforts to ban the use of conversion therapy for minors.

New York Times reporting on Jarrett's response also reported that an “all-gender restroom” has been created in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building to provide an additional option for transgender individuals working on the White House staff who are not comfortable using either the men’s or women’s restrooms.

Challengers Move Toward Success In Fraud Suit Against Conversion Therapy Provider

Plaintiffs in recent days have won two important state court victories in a New Jersey consumer fraud lawsuit against an organization that offers "conversion therapy" to gay men. In Ferguson v. JONAH (Jews Offering New Alternatives For Healing), (NJ Super. Ct. Feb. 5, 2015), the trial court ruled that expert testimony of five proposed witnesses, and part of the expert testimony of a sixth, should be excluded at trial.  The court said in part:

[T]he theory that homosexuality is a disorder is not novel but -- like the notion that the earth is flat and the sun revolves around it -- instead is outdated and refuted. Homosexuality was listed as a mental disorder in the DSM until its removal in 1973.... JONAH has not identified any case that provides a standard for the admission of obsolete and discredited scientific theories. By definition, such theories are unreliable and can offer no assistance to the jury, but rather present only confusion and prejudice.

A Southern Poverty Law Center press release has more details.

Plaintiffs' second win came in  Ferguson v. JONAH (Jews Offering New Alternatives For Healing), (NJ Super. Ct. Feb. 10, 2015).  The court granted partial summary judgment to plaintiffs, holding in part that:

it is a misrepresentation in violation of the CFA [Consumer Fraud Act], in advertising or selling conversion therapy services to describe homosexuality ... as being a mental illness, disease, disorder, or equivalent thereof....

The court also held that it is a CFA violation to advertise conversion therapy success statistics when there is no factual basis for calculating the statistics. As reported by The Advocate, a jury must still decide whether defendant made these kinds of misrepresentations. [See prior related posting.]

Indian State of Goa Plans Program To "Treat" LGBT Youths

The New York Times reported this week that the Indian state of Goa is planning to set up "camps" to treat gay, bisexual and transgender young people to rid them of their sexual orientations.  Ramesh Tawadkar, the state's Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs, says the program, which will involve a well-known yoga guru, will teach LGBT youths how to experience "the true pleasures and bliss of life." Same-sex relations are illegal in India.

Cert. Petition Filed In Challenge To New Jersey Ban On Reparative Therapy For Minors

On Wednesday, a petition for certiorari (full text) was filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in King v. Governor of New Jersey.  In the case, the 3rd Circuit upheld New Jersey's statute barring professional counselors from engaging in sexual orientation change therapy with minors. (See prior posting.)  Liberty Counsel issued a press release announcing the filing of the petition for review.

Court Rejects Free Exercise and Establishment Clause Challenges To California's Reparative Therapy Ban

In Welch v. Brown, (ED CA, Nov. 5, 2014), a California federal district rejected Free Exercise and Establishment Clause challenges to California's ban on mental health professionals providing "sexual orientation change efforts" (SOCE) for minors.  The decision follows on the 9th Circuit's rejection of a free speech challenge to the law.  At issue was a claim by a licensed therapist who was also an ordained minister. The court held that the SOCE ban is a neutral law of general applicability, so that only rational basis review need be applied, saying:

the Legislature was concerned with the harm SOCE therapy causes minors regardless of whether it is motivated by secular or religious beliefs.

The court also rejected the argument that the law creates excessive entanglement with religion:

even if a mental health provider's use of SOCE relies on church doctrines or teachings, the state need not evaluate or consider those religious teachings in order to determine whether the provider performed SOCE.

Finally the court rejected privacy challenges to the law.

3rd Circuit Upholds New Jersey's Ban On Reparative Therapy As Permissible Regulation of Professional Speech

Yesterday, the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals upheld against 1st Amendment challenges New Jersey's statute barring professional counselors from engaging in sexual orientation change therapy with minors. In King v. Governor of the State of New Jersey, (3rd Cir., Sept. 11, 2014), the court affirmed the district court's decision, while disagreeing with its 1st Amendment free expression analysis. Rejecting the district court's conclusion that talk therapy is not speech, the court instead concluded that it is "professional speech" which is subject to the same intermediate scrutiny as commercial speech.  Applying that test, the court found that the law directly advances New Jersey’s interest in protecting minors from harmful professional practices and is narrowly enough tailored to survive intermediate scrutiny.  The court rejected plaintiffs' free exercise challenge, finding that the law is neutral and generally applicable, and rejected plaintiffs' overbreadth challenge as well. Finally it agreed with the district court that plaintiffs lacked standing to bring suit on behalf of their minor clients. Bloomberg News reports on the decision. Liberty Counsel which represented plaintiffs announced that it would seek Supreme Court review.

Court Upholds New Jersey's Reparative Therapy Ban For Second Time

 In Doe v. Christie, (D NJ, July 31, 2014), a New Jersey federal district court for the second time (see prior posting) rejected constitutional challenges to New Jersey's law barring mental health professionals from treating minors using Sexual Orientation Change Efforts. This challenge was brought by parents seeking reparative therapy for their 15-year old son.  The court said in part:

A3371 does not implicate Plaintiffs’ free speech rights  because the statute (i) does not regulate speech, directly or indirectly, but rather only regulates a mental health procedure performed by licensed counselors or therapists, and (ii) does not prevent the receipt of information regarding SOCE outside  the counseling or therapy setting. Accordingly, Plaintiffs’ claim that the statute violates their right to receive information is  without merit.....

The court also rejected free exercise and parental rights challenges to the law. NBC10 reports on the decision.

Meanwhile, as reported by BuzzFeed yesterday, 9 former leaders of the ex-gay movement signed a letter stating that conversion therapy is both ineffective and harmful.

Conversion Therapy Victims Can Recover Treble Damages Under New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act

In Ferguson v. JONAH (Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing), (NJ Super., June 6, 2014), a New Jersey trial court held that plaintiffs who paid defendant for counseling and other methods to purge unwanted same-sex attractions can recover treble damages under the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act, Sec. 56:8-19 for money spent on therapy to repair the damage done by JONAH's original conversion therapy. The court concluded that those costs constitute the kind of "ascertainable loss" required by the statute before treble damages may be recovered. The Southern Poverty Law Center issued a press release announcing the decision.

Cert. Petition Filed In California Change Therapy Ban Case

Yesterday a petition for certiorari (full text) was filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in Pickup v. Brown. In the case,  the 9th Circuit upheld the constitutionality of California Senate Bill 1172 that bans state-licensed mental health providers from engaging in sexual orientation change efforts with patients under 18. (See prior posting.) Liberty Counsel issued a press release announcing the filing of the cert. petition.

9th Circuit Stays Order Pending Cert. Petition In Case Upholding California's "Change Therapy for Minors" Ban

As previously reported, last week the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denied en banc review of a 3-judge panel's decision that upheld California Senate Bill 1172. The bill bans state-licensed mental health providers from engaging in sexual orientation change efforts with patients under 18.  Now in Pickup v. Brown, (9th Cir., Feb. 3, 2014), the 9th Circuit has agreed to stay its mandate in the case while appellants file a petition for certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court. Liberty Counsel issued a press release announcing the stay.